Superplexus

Superplexus

Superplexus is a 3-D labyrinth game made by Tiger Electronics, a division of Hasbro. The game is enclosed in a plastic see-through sphere, and players try to maneuver a steel ball through an intricate maze—on a narrow, plastic track—by twisting and turning the sphere.

Superplexus is composed of 100 numbered steps. Each step may be as simple as traversing a length of track or as complicated as jumping from one piece of track to another. Additionally, some of the steps involve dropping the ball into a cup or through a small tunnel to take advantage of its 3-dimensional nature. The game is divided into 3 segments identified by a small sensor, each with its own soundtrack. It maintains a record of the best times for individual segments and for the entire course.

It was invented by Michael McGinnis and is actually the second version of the project. The first one proved too difficult to manufacture and as yet has not been beaten by anyone. He teaches 3-D design at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, California.

At least one gaming group in Santa Cruz, California has renamed it as the "Escher Ball" because of its appearance and uses it as a means to identify the group to strangers.

Superplexus was not a retail success. Retailers eventually cleared their stocks by selling them at around $5 each, with the majority of them being sold in the UK discount shops. More recently, they have been known to sell on eBay anywhere between $25 for a non functioning puzzle to $165 for a sealed autographed version from Michael McGinnis.

----

External links

[http://www.santarosa.edu/~mmcginni/superplexus/ Michael McGinnis's page about the development of Superplexus]

[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/12/20/NB161308.DTL An article in SFGate about SuperPlexus]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tiger Electronics — is not to be confused with the appliance maker Tiger Corporation, the electronics retailer Tiger Direct or the producer of Gizmondo, Tiger Telematics. Tiger Electronics is an American toy manufacturer, best known for its handheld LCD games, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Labyrinth (game) — Infobox Game title = Labyrinth subtitle = image link = image caption = designer = manufacturer = publisher = illustrator = years = players = ages = setup time = playing time = random chance = web = skills = fine motor skills bggid = bggxrefs =… …   Wikipedia

  • McGinnis — is a surname that refers to: People Alan McGinniss (b. 1948), English Actor,Writer,Singer,Songwriter Alan Loy McGinnis (1933–2005), American Christian psychotherapist and author Benoit McGinnis, Canadian actor Charles McGinnis (1906–1995),… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”